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She caught up with Damon and Elena at the mansion where they were loading up Elena's SUV. Damon took one look at Caroline's bag and started shaking his head.

"No. No, no, no."

Caroline raised her eyebrows at Elena. "Didn't tell him I was coming, huh?"

Elena looked sheepish. "Hadn't gotten around to it."

As Damon swivelled his head to scowl at Elena, Caroline took advantage of his distraction to dart in and drop her bag in the trunk. Just as swiftly, Damon grabbed her bag and pitched it to the side like a petulant child.

"Hey!"

"Damon!"

He looked from Caroline to Elena and back again.

With a hand on her hip, Caroline said, "What is your problem?"

"My problem is that I don't need you screwing up my plan."

"Oh, really. You have a plan?"

Damon crossed his arms. "Of course I have a plan."

"Well, what is it?"

"Why? So you can spill your guts when you inevitably get captured?"

"Me! What about Elena? She's been kidnapped way more times than me."

"That's different."

"How?"

"It just is."

Caroline narrowed her eyes. "Is this really about me? Or is it just that you don't want a third wheel crashing your romantic road trip?"

Elena's eyes widened and her cheeks turned pink, but she said nothing. Damon, on the other hand, shot her a look of disgust.

"This isn't a vacation, Caroline, it's a rescue mission."

"I know that-"

"Do you? Because it's going to get rough, and it's going to get ugly." He moved towards her, getting right up in her face. "You're going to have to kill. Are you ready for that?"

Forcing herself to stand her ground, she looked him in the eye. "I'll do whatever it takes," she said, sounding more confident than she felt.

He stared at her, his clear blue eyes boring into her as if he were trying to read her mind.

"It's her choice, Damon," Elena said quietly.

Damon snorted. "Fine. Get yourself killed. See if I care." He spun away to snatch up her bag and toss it into the SUV.

Caroline watched him, a bit stunned by his sudden capitulation. Though she thought it had more to do with Elena's support than anything she herself had said.

"Christ, this is turning into a circus," Damon said as he slammed the trunk shut. "Anyone else you want to invite along? Loverboy, maybe, or the wolf? How about your mom?"

Caroline sniffed. "My mom's looking after the town. She's the sheriff, remember?"

"Oh, is that the same sheriff who shot a teenage boy last night? Yeah, that's reassuring."

"Hey, don't talk about my mom like that."

"She tried to kill me. I'll talk about her any way I like."

"Damon-"

"Enough!" Elena yelled. "Both of you!"

Caroline cringed. Elena seldom got mad, but when she did it was time to run for cover. Naturally Damon, dumbass that he was, opened his mouth again.

Elena raised her finger. "Not another word, Damon. Just get in the car." She stomped to the driver's side and got in.

Damon glared at Caroline as he stalked round to the passenger side, like it was her fault he was such a dick. She stuck her tongue out at him. Childish, she knew, but oh so satisfying.

Elena stuck her head out the window. "Are you coming or not, Caroline?"

She hurriedly climbed into the back seat of the Explorer before they left without her. As they headed out of town towards the nearest highway, she made herself comfortable by sprawling out in the middle of the seat.

As they sped along the country road, her gaze shifted between the two dark heads before her. Whenever she saw Damon and Elena together, she couldn't help but be reminded of his feelings for her friend. And often that made her wonder whether Damon would ever do to Elena what he'd done to her.

Compelled her.

Hurt her.

Fed from her.

But things were more complicated since she'd become a vampire. She understood that urge to feed, to kill, to take whatever you desired. And yet, what Damon did to her wasn't just physical, it was mental. He'd turned her inside out. They might be allies now, but there were still times when she wanted to stake every inch of his body until he begged her to kill him. Other times...well, he might be an asshole, but he was still as pretty as sin. Puffing out a breath, Caroline shook herself.

"So where are we going anyway?"

"Magic 8-ball says Florida," Damon said.

"What?"

After exchanging a look with Damon, Elena explained about Jeremy and his newfound clairvoyance.

"Okay," Caroline said. "But where in Florida? I mean, are we just gonna cruise the highways hoping we'll run into them?"

"The magic 8-ball wasn't that specific," Damon said.

Elena sighed. "Will you stop calling him that?"

The mention of Florida tweaked Caroline's memory. "You know, Tyler just came back from Florida. And he told me he's handling the werewolf thing a lot better."

Damon glanced over his shoulder. "You think it's werewolf country?"

Caroline shrugged. "Can't hurt to ask, right?" She retrieved her phone from her jacket pocket and hit the speed dial. "Tyler, hey."

"Caroline?" A momentary pause. "Where are you?"

Aware that Damon and Elena were listening to her every word, she hastily told Tyler about the mission to rescue Stefan and Bonnie. A long silence followed her explanation.

"Tyler, you still there?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just wish you'd called me earlier. I could've come with you."

"You got shot last night."

"Well, I got over it."

Caroline laughed. "Not that over it. Besides, it would've been too crowded," she said, by which she meant that Damon and Tyler in the same car would've been a catastrophe in the making.

She told him their theory about Klaus heading to Florida. Tyler got it straight away.

"You think he's going after the wolves."

"It's a guess, but it's all we've got." She hesitated. "Tyler, we need to know where to find them."

"Caroline, I don't know if that's such a good idea. They're not crazy about vampires down there to begin with. What if you're wrong?"

"What if we're right?"

The line hummed with silence.

"Tyler, please."

He sighed. "Okay, it's a small town called Destin on the Emerald Coast. You want a bar called the Shamrock. Ask for Sandy. I'll call him and give him a head's up. Hopefully he won't stake you on sight."

"Thank you, Tyler."

"You're welcome." He took a deep breath. "Listen, I know you wanna help Stefan and Bonnie, but you be careful, okay?"

"Okay," she said, too surprised to say anything else.

"Just...just make sure you come home."

"I'll do my best," she said softly. "Bye, Tyler."

When she ended the call, Damon was already poring over a road map. "Okay, we need to get on the 81 and head south."

"See," Caroline chirped. "Now aren't you glad you brought me along?"

"You want an honest answer," Damon said without looking up.

"Oh, like you had any better ideas."

"I would've come up with something, believe me."

She rolled her eyes. Damon's ego was bigger than his house.

Elena let out an exasperated sigh. "If you two are going to be like this the whole way, then you can get out right now."

"What did I do?" Damon said indignantly.

Elena just sighed again.

Caroline pushed her phone back into her pocket, her thoughts still on Tyler. She hadn't expected his concern over her safety and she realised that she kinda liked it. The thought of Tyler worrying about her warmed her more than drinking fresh blood ever could. Smiling, she glanced up to find Damon smirking at her.

"Ah, young love."

"Shut up, Damon."

"A werewolf and a vampire. Sounds like a cheesy romance novel."

"Shut up, Damon!"

"Puppies with fangs," Damon mused.

"What?"

"Just trying to picture what your children would look like. Not that you two could ever have...hey!" Damon flung his arms up, fending off simultaneous blows from Caroline and Elena.

"Yeah, it's all fun and games until someone gets bit by a werewolf," Caroline snapped.

"Are you threatening to sic your boyfriend on me?" Damon said incredulously.

"Keep talking and you'll find out."

Her sensitive ears caught him muttering something about having no sense of humour, but at least he had the good sense to stop talking about fanged puppies. As she settled herself back in her seat, she exchanged a grin with Elena via the mirror. Between the two of them, they'd keep Damon in line.

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